Kazan - Week 3 - "In Every Thought"

August 23, 2015

All is well,

Sorry this is going to be a shorter one this week!

WOW. What an interesting week. I am continuing to love Kazan :) We reset the boundaries of our area with the elders and now we both share the center of the city with President Schwab's permission. Which is going to be sweeeet. We get to see all the beautiful architecture around here. I really feel like I'm living in a dream city whenever I'm in center.
Today we are visiting the Kremlin and then we'll take a stroll down a walking street and do some souvineer shopping. 

Sooo our investigators in this area? We have about 2.... L, who has been an investigator for about four years. We are really going to pray to know what to do about that woman. She loves the Book of Mormon, and loves church, and wants to be baptized. But for some reason everytime before baptism something gets in her way. We are hoping to get some sort of revelation to know what to keep Satan away from her! 

Another investigator that we have right now is Z. Remember last week how the elders gave us the number of a woman who was interested in meeting with us? We all thought her name was L... turns out that her name is , but she goes by Z. When we met with her in the church last week for the first time I didn't recognize her face as someone that we met. But she told us that she remembers that two blond girls, and one with reeeally long blond hair who were very social gave her an invitation to church. That was definitely us haha :) And then I saw Z's loooong long hair. Dark and thick and I totally remembered that all we did was give her and invitation to church and I said to her, "By the way you have gooorgeous hair!" I can't forget hair that long. It's past her booty that's for sure. She has a daugther, D, who is 1 1/2 and adorrrrable. We're so excited to be teaching them :) 

Also we met a boy named R on the bus the other day. He's 17 year old. And what do you know, it was my companion to start the conversation! Well, we took him to the church and had the elders show him around. Then on Sunday he came to church with us.... and after church he confessed his love for me and after he left continued to send me texts full of poetry. Yikes.

My companion is doing sooo so well! She is still hesitant, but is making calls, and even contacting on the bus! We are friends, and we get the best of each other :) 

I have noticed the times that I am not exercising faith in Christ is when I am not looking unto him "in every thought" doubting not and fearing not. When I don't use faith in missionary work I honestly just feel like a foreigner wondering around in someone else's country. I really want to focus this week more on Casting out fears and other forms of unbelief, I also want to look unto Christ. Even if the outward results don't come, the inward results always will if I have faith in Christ. 

Doctrine & Covenants 6:36 

Look unto me in every thought; 

doubt not, fear not"

Loooove, Sister Wilson 

Kazan - Week 2 - "He is in All Things"

August 17, 2015

All is well,

We had zone conference on Tuesday. It was so great :) It was a really long one, from 9:00-4:00. We did lots of role plays during it and Sister Twede and I took the role of 2 Babooshkas. Holyyyy cow Sister Twede is hilarious. She was meant to be a Russian Babooshka. We had interviews with President Schwab after conference, and I got my first blessing from him. Blessings from mission presidents is like getting a patriarchal blessing all over again ! :) I went home from that conference feeling real good and spiritually refreshed! 

We haven't had much time for site seeing/tourist attractions in Kazan yet. And won't be able to today as well because we are missing lots of necessary household items (cause we just moved in to this apartment) like a broom, a vacuum, pots and pans, containers for leftover food, trashcans... basically our apartment is gettin' a little nasty because of that. Welcome to the life of a missionary :) 

My trainee, Sister Nielson, is doing great. I've been having her make phone calls all week and she really hates me for it, but it's all for her good. She's gonna be a pro by the end of training. We really bonded this week as we opened up to each other and leaned on each other for support. Honestly you will be alone on a mission if you are closed off to your companion, so I always try to use that source of support that God has given us. 

A week ago we met a boy who was out early in the morning searching for a job. We promised him that if he came to church on Sunday then he would find work the following week. I knew that God would back us up with such a promise. Well... that boy showed up at church. Turns out that he is trying to change his life (as he was previously addicted to alcohol, cigarettes, and video games). We met with him later this week and he told us, "I was hired at a job yesterday... how did you know?" (I tried to act slightly calm, but I was absolutely thrilled) We told him that when we keep God's commandments, he blesses us, simple as that. We do our part, he does his. He came to church again yesterday and told us that he is reading the Book of Mormon and has already finished 1 Nephi. WOW. So so cool. His name is E. 

President and Sister Schwab were at church with us yesterday... oh how I love them so so much. They have really taken the role as wise grandparents for me out here. It was Sister Schwab's birthday so we had the whole branch sing happy birthday to her. She was absolutely thrilled :) President Schwab promised us that we are about to see amazing amazing things happening soon in Kazan (I can't wait when in the future people will open their mission calls and read, "you are called to serve in the Russia Kazan Mission! It's gonna happen!) Well... that night the Elders got a call. They said that some girls gave her a Restoration pamphlet the other morning, and that she has read it and is very interested in finding out more. Elder Northrop said that's the first time that anyone has ever called him from a brochure on his mission (and he's almost finished). Her name is L, and we are meeting with her tonight :) 

Also this week while contacting we passed a woman on the street who was obviously in a horrible mood and it was written all over her face. She was carrying out the trash and we tried to stop and talk to her but she wasn't having it. A few minutes later we saw her walking to her house and I said to her, "It's too bad that the trash shoot is all the way over here huh? But it's good exercise! How are you doing today? Is everything okay?" She said no, but was caught by our unmistakable accents. We continued talking and asking about the weather and the city and her family. She was upset over the death of a loved one. As we spoke with her, her face began to light up and we left her smiling and laughing. She was interested in the gospel, but it felt good to help change someone's mood (remember the golden rule!) We then.. a few minutes later met another woman who was very distressed about her son being handicapped. She began to cry and we reminded her that God loves her very very much and knows her circumstances and hasn't forgotten her and her frustrations. She also wasn't interested in the gospel. But hey, I'm sure that all these attempts will help when others try to share the gospel with them in the future.

I know that Christ is the author and the finisher of our faith. He is in all things, through all things, above all things, and around all things. He can see the future and the past, we are bound to only the present and the past. For that reason we rely on God for our faith, knowing that he knows all. And because he knows all, he knows how to help us... even if that is sending two American girls to make you laugh a little bit. 

Love,

Sister Wilson 

Kazan - Week 1 - "Kazan!!!"

August 10, 2015

All is well :) 

Whaaaat a week. Wow. Where to start? One of the fastest and most interesting weeks I have had so far on my mission. 

Tuesday night we had 8 sisters staying at our apartment and it was so fun catching up with every one of them. These sisters are all my best friends, Sisters Wagstaff, McKell, Twede, and Palmer. All of which are training right now. On Wednesday morning we met our trainees. My trainee's name is Sister Nielson, she's 19 and is from Virginia, and she is a star. Her Russian is SO good. She often starts conversations by saying, "I don't speak so well in Russian...." And then blows us all away with how good she really is. People are surprised when we tell then she's only been here for 5 days. And know what else? We really do look like sisters :) Her and I are the only blondies in the mission! She is super positive and is a real sharp missionary. 

The next morning I had mission leader counsel, which was interesting because half of the leaders are new. My companion was a champ and stayed home with Sister Matakina who is a native. Two days out and already working with a native :) 

Man. I am in heaven. This area will definitely go down in history as one of my favorites. I've
heard rumors about Kazan being a pretty city, but I thought those were all exaggerated. Yeah riiiight. It pretty much took my breath away driving into the city. It's like driving in to the captial in the hunger games. The architecture is unbelievable, everything is very clean, and my favorite part? The people :)  ....holy cow they are not like any of the people like in Saratov, Balakovo, and Samara. They are sooo nice, and even if they're not interested in the church, they keep talking to us. In the past 5 days that I have been here I can probably count on only my 2 hands the number of times we've been told that we're from a sect. 

This Sunday there were about 40 people at church, which is apparently a lot. We write home in the branch building. Also the branch building totally doesn't look like a branch building. It looks like a storage unit or something from the outside. But the inside is really nice :) Our apartment is soooo nice. There are 2 air conditioners, which is unheard of in the mission. We're super blessed :) 

Man. The coolest things have happened this week. We've met some pretty remarkable people. Before church we were on our way home from early morning contacting. We passed a boy who was waiting for the crosswalk to turn green and decided to go back and give him an invite to church. He then gave us a card, and the only word that caught my eye was "alcohol" so I laughed and gave it back to him and said, "no thanks, we don't need that kind of stuff!" He then said, "I stopped drinking." I was a little confused at that and asked to see the card again. Actually it was an alcoholics anonymous card. He's stopped drinking for about 2 months now. We congratulated him and then asked what he is doing out so early in the morning, he replied that he is looking for work. I remembered that president Schwab has said about making promises to people and that God would back us up. So I told him that if in 3 hours he stops whatever he is doing and comes to church, then he will find a job this week. He scoffed at me, but I assured him that it was a promise from God and not from me. He said he would think about it..... fast forward a couple hours later. 

It was my first sunday at church and was a little crazy trying to get to know everyone and giving attention to a new investigator, my companion, and all the members. It wasn't until the second hour that I noticed a familiar face sitting across the room from me in sunday school. It was the boy that we had met on the street earlier that day. He had even come to the first hour and I managed not to see him, he stayed all 3 hours! He has lots of questions. He is addicted to smoking, alcohol, and video games, but he' trying to turn his life around. He said it's his second week of not smoking and that he already sold his TV. Heavenly Father led us to him at exactly the right time. He wants to change his life and he's come to the right place. 

We also met a woman about 30 years old on the street who is really in need of some guidance in her life. She's been living with a man who beats her so she was out wondering around on the street in the morning. Sadly, that often happens way too often. She really loved talking to us and gave us her address so that we would stop by.... A couple nights later we did stop by. There were about 10 little kids playing soccer in front of her house and out of that group of little boys we spot our friend playing with them.... in a robe, and verrrrry drunk. I talked to some other adults who were observing and asked if they knew her, they said that she more than often always drunk. She was really happy to see us, but I'm not sure how effective it is to teach someone who is drunk... we'll see what happens with her. 

We met a woman named S, who has a friend, N, who has a 15 year old boy has an incurable cancer. She gave us the contact information for this woman and we are going to call her and ask if we can come over and give her son a blessing. N is an orphan herself so she has no parents, no siblings, no husband, and the only one close to her is her son. Whether or not it is God's will to heal her son, I don't know. But I do know that if she accepts the gospel then she will have a family here at church :) 

I know that my Redeemer lives. I know it. 

He is the author of my faith. He is my deliverer. 

He is my best friend. He loves me, and I love Him. 

He knows better, and that's enough for me. 

Love,

Sister Brooklyn Wilson

Bezi - Week 12 - "Missionary Work is Miracle Work"

August 3, 2015

All is well :) 

The area presidency has asked our mission (and other missions as well I'm sure) to talk to three times as many people. So in order to do that, Sister Sotnikova and I have began talking to men too :) President said that sisters should focus on woman, and that elders should focus on contacting men, but if there aren't any women for us to contact then we should still talk to those around us. I can't say that I fully encourage the idea of talking to men... I've never so many awkward situations on my mission as I have had this week. 

I remember looking out our open window and seeing massive raindrops, smelling wet asphalt and wet bark, just taking in my surroundings :) and then two seconds later hearing two boys about nine years old riding their bikes home and one yelling repeatedly to the other, "Aaahhhhh, aaaaahhhhh I can't see anything!" Russian rainstorms are crazy. 

Two elders went home from our district this week, Elder Myers and Elder Weber. So Elder Myers decided to buy sharma for everyone, sharma is a russian burrito. There are mexican burritos, breakfast burritos, but Russian Burritos are pretty good too :) There is tomato, cucumber, mayo/sour cream, and chicken and other wonderful spices in them. It doesn't taste like a mexican burrito at all though. It's Russian somehow. Parker should look up a recipe for them online, they are great :) 

We had 4 member present lessons this week :) That's better than 2 (which was last week). We are trying to help our investigator, H, who is the father of a new convert, to stop smoking. He love love loooves church, but he feels embarrassed cause he needs to take a step out between hours to take a smoke break otherwise he gets antsy sitting in there. Also L came to church yesterday :) she is finally home from Moscow, and I am sure that she will be baptized this cycle. 

I have noticed an awful weakness that I have this week, which is that I have a really hard time finishing things that I start. I can finish it, but the quality at the end is always much lower than the quality that I start with in the beginning. I noticed that a little bit in my mission this week and I realized that it is a trial of my faith :) Will I finish the race strong? Will I sprint to the end? Or will I let myself go and loosen up and slow down? I think many of us can find the same problems in our every day lives... with school, with projects, even with fasting! The thing about enduring is that it really does test our faith, and holy cow is my faithfulness to God being tried! It's really not important whether or not you finish a mission, school, a fast, exams. What matters is what you learn. You don't fast just to get to the end of it. You don't take a biology class just to take a test at the end, you take the class to learn something during that period of time. We're not living just to get to the end of our lives. This is in fact a probationary period. We are being tested in every way. I feel like the closer a missionary comes to the end of his mission the stronger Satan tries to work on them. As long as I keep my covenants to remember Christ, I do not fall. As long as my faith is based on the Savior and not in myself, there is no failure. I know that clinging to Christ is the only thing that will allow me to endure WELL to the end of my mission.

We got transfer calls on Saturday night. I will be training this cycle :) there are 5 new sisters coming in, I get to meet her on Wednesday! I am also going to open an area that's been closed a while, beautiful Kazan :) I have heard that it is gorgeous there, I'm so so excited! I will get to see it in the Summer and in the fall and maybe even in the winter. Honestly my guess is that I am going to end my mission there, but we'll see. I am also going to be sister training leader. So yeah, president really dumpted a load on me. This will be a really interesting cycle :) My native companion, sister Sotnikova, will be serving with the only other Russian native in the mission, Sister Matakina. I am SOOO excited for them, it will be a blast. 

I'm sad that I won't be here to see the baptisms that will happen this cycle, L, H, and others. But I am just a worker in the vineyard, and the Lord tells me where to go. And I can't complain that I'm going to Kazan :) I've never heard anything bad about that place! 

Thanks for the prayers this week. I honestly felt real support. There are times on a mission where you know that the only thing that is keeping you going is the prayers of others, that's me right now :) And I'm grateful for those prayers. Cause now I'm on my feet again. And I'm ready to kill it this cycle! Missionary work is miracle work :) 

Loooove, 

Sister Wilson 

In a recent General Conference, Elder Kevin W. Pearson gave a talk entitled "Stay by the Tree". The following is a quote from that talk:

Enduring to the end is a hallmark of true discipleship and is essential to eternal life. But when trials and challenges come our way, we are often told to simply “hang in there.” Let me be clear: to “hang in there” is not a principle of the gospel. Enduring to the end means constantly coming unto Christ and being perfected in Him.

Click HERE to find out what it means to "Stay by the Tree"

Bezi - Week 11 - "The Bitter and the Sweet"

July 27, 2015

All is well,

This week was a bit of a rough one. We spent last Monday on a train up to Penza to do splits with Sisters Wagstaff and Thomas. That was really fun :) it's always nice to have a change of scenary. Also it was fun serving with Sister Wagstaff again, she was my last companion and I have missed her spunky personality. We spent a lot of time singing Josh Groban together during meal times this week :) I loved the train rides, it was nice to just sit back for a few hours and write in my journal or read a Liahona. Although our area really took a hit from it this week... we only had 2 member present lessons and one investigator at church. 

My companion is doing great, we spent some time discussing how we can exercise more faith this morning and I agreed that we need to cast out negative thoughts by SPEAKING something positive. Words are more powerful than thoughts right? 

MIRACLE! One of our investigators, who is the father of a new convert, has been struggling to read the Book of Mormon, especially because it's harder for him to understand since its not in his native language. This week he had a dream about a book that he received from some higher power, and the pages of the book were glowing. He said that he knew that his dream was about the Book of Mormon. Even though he can't read it, he said that he received a testimony of its divinity thanks to this dream. We are always asking that Heavenly Father somehow bless our  investigators to know the truthfulness of the church. I am so grateful that we aren't the ones who need to think up these miracles, but that God gives a special witness to each person in a special way, because he is the only one who really knows what they need. 

I love church. So so much. If you are ever bored at church I would like to invite you to go to church with a pen and a paper. Why would God open the heavens and give you revelation if you're just going to forget it? When we have a pencil and a paper in our hands God knows that we are serious about learning :) you would never go to math class or biology class without a pen and a paper, so why wouldn't you do the same in church? Why do we go to church in the first place? To learn right? By bringing  a pen and paper you can recall the feelings and the promptings of the Spirit that you had at church, and take those home with you. 

I have been really struggling to keep my faith consistent. I feel like my body and the natural man really makes me forget my purpose here from time to time. At all times I honestly try to talk with everyone. I do the work. Wonderful. But honestly I feel like more than frequently I get turned on autopilot, no matter how hard I pray about charity I feel like I am sometimes speaking without feeling or sincerity and I really hate it. But I know that there is opposition in all things, my best today is not what my best will be tomorrow or what it was yesterday. And for that reason I am grateful for the atonement. I am grateful that Christ knows EXACTLY what I am feeling. He knows what it feels like to have such a serious calling because his calling was the most serious calling of all... atoning for all mankind. If I just remember that this is his work and not mine, that I am simply a servant in the field and I have no say in when the harvest will be... it takes a great weight off my shoulders. I really wish I could keep that perspective and remember that more often.

Yesterday our mission president came to our branch for church. I am coming to an end on my mission and have really been begging my Heavenly Father for more steam. I feel like I have never understood the words, "endure to the end" until now. It's really not hard enduring to the end, anyone can do it, but the quality of our enduring is really what counts. Runners sprint to the end, they don't slow down, and I want to be able to do the same. The mission president's wife said something that really struck me. She said, "before this life, we lived with God, and he had a plan for us to come to earth and to receive a body to become more like him. Right now we are learning how to use our bodies, how to control our bodies, we haven't always had a body." In that moment I realized something. How long did I live with God before this life? Probably a loooong time. How long have I had a body? 20 years. No wonder it is so hard to control this thing, to not get annoyed by small things or not to lash out when we're hungry or not to complain when things don't go write, to tame our natural man. We aren't used to it. We're still learning how to use our bodies. That thought really helped me to have more mercy on myself, and I know that God has infinite patience with us as well, and Christ's atonement will be there for us until we get it right :) 

I love my mission, always will :) it's full of the sweet and full of the bitter. But we are promised by a loving Heavenly Father that anything bitter, anything unfair or hard will be made right by the atonement. I know that is true.

Love,

Sister Brooklyn Wilson 

Bezi - Week - 10 "Russiaaa"

 July 20, 2015

All is well,

I will forever be amazing by how much can be done in a 24 hour period on a mission. And what happens in a week is insane. I feel like Nephi, saying that my journal cannot hold a hundred of the things that happen out here. 

We've still been doing loads of contacting, but honestly with the way I've been eating lately it's probably okay that we've been doing a lot of walking. The weather here has been HEAVEN lately. It's been constantly in the 20-25s (I think that's about 75 degrees F). This week while contacting we met a lot of people who gave us the magic phrase, "I'm interesting, and I want to know more." I have heard that so rarely on my mission that I literally feel overjoyed whenever I here it and it's hard not to freak people out with my excitement. 

This week early in the morning we stopped a girl who seemed to be in a hurry, her name was I. We told her who we were and she quickly asked us, "do you know where I can find a fortuneteller?" We asked her why, and she said that she wanted to know the future so that she could get revenge on her husband. They've been married 6 months and have been fighting constantly. We quickly responded that revenge will not help anything. Instead we opened up to Moroni 7 with her in the Book of Mormon and told her that charity and love is the only thing that will heal their relationship. Her heart was immediately softened. She took the Book of Mormon and came to church with us this Sunday :) She's a bit of a hooligan and took a few smoke breaks before and during church, but we'll work on that. I'm so excited to see the changes in this girl's life thanks to Christ. I love meeting people that the Lord has prepared for us! Another time she may have rejected the missionaries, but the Lord's time is so perfect, and he sent us to her in a time of need. 

Brooklyn in 2003 showing her Patriotism

This week I found a little hymn book that I bought in the MTC. I haven't sang hymns in english in foreverrrr and I miss it so much. So lately at night I've been locking myself in the bathroom for 10 minutes and just singing hymns to myself in my lovely native language. I have to admit that I almost cried when I sang, "America, America God shed his grace on thee...." (I'm pretty much asking to make myself homesick). Buuut... honestly I've never felt more at peace that I need to be on a mission at this time. I looove America, I love my homeland, but I am so grateful to be in Russia for right now. I know that as long as I am here, I am needed here. 

I love my companion so so much. I have never laughed more in my life I think. Last night we had a lesson with a less active member whose legs are too old to bring her to church. Sister Sotnikova spent half the lesson trying to convince this 75 year old woman to do online dating. She is the funniest person, and the nicest and the most selfless and most humble and patient. 

Also, sitting on the bus the other day, I turn around and see that my companion started a conversation with the largest man I have ever seen in Russia. He told her that he is a championship body builder, and then she asked for his autograph. He asked her what her name was and was probably expecting something like, "Katie" or "Lena" but she said, "Sister Sotnikova" she was laughing so hard when she thought about how absurd and nerdy that sounded later. Her next question was, "shouldn't you have body guards or something?" and in the cockiest voice he says, "за чем мне охраник" which in english would probably mean, "why would someone like me need a body guard?" ah... people. 

We are writing at the office in Samara right now and in 3 hours we will be on a train to penza to do exchanges with the sisters there :) it's a 5 hour train ride, yaaaay! So much better that marshootkas. I remember taking 5 hour bus rides in those last summer, such a nightmare. 

Love you all :) 

Sister Brooklyn Wilson 

Bezi - Week 9 - "Choose to Believe"

July 15, 2015

All is well!  

This is probably the longest letter I have and ever will write... so bear with me :) 

This week flew by. We had exchanges with the sisters in Avrora and it was so so fun :) I love going on splits to wherever sister Twede is because we always live like kings when we are with her. Every morning we were there we had crepes because her companion used to work in a crepe shop. We even had buttermilk syrup and nutella with bananas, just like we used to do at home! I really miss dad's breakfast foods. I really learned a lot from working with these wonderful sisters and it honestly just felt really good to get out of my area for a bit (I can't imagine how Sis. Sotnikova feels, she's been in this area since October!). 

It's been really fun speaking with my companion in english this week. Her vocabulary is still small so she uses the words that she already knows, so she says things like, "It's my turn to give the dishes a shower." She also always says, "amathing" instead of "amazing." It's so funny to hear a 28 year old woman talk like that :) I really love working with her. 

This week the Zone Leaders also asked Sister Sotnikova and I (she is the STL) to do a presentation on how to have more joy while contacting (the area presidency has asked that we spend a minimum of 3 hours contacting every day). We decided to concentrate on having happiness in the companionship, because honestly how fun is it to contact when your companion isn't happy. Sis Sotnikova was sooo so nervous all week and especially in the beginning, but after a few minutes the Spirit really took over and everything went great :) 

After training we had interviews with President Schwab. That man is a tank of knowledge. I also did some translating for Sister Sotnikova during the training and every single time President Schwab opened his mouth it would get very difficult to translate because the Spirit works through him so strongly, it was distracting haha :) I admitted to him that I have been experiencing feelings of hopelessness lately. I guess you could say that even though I've been on a mission for 14 months I still don't quite understand hope and faith. Our area has really been struggling and I haven't seen many consistent lessons or investigators since the day I've come here. I see a miracle like meeting someone wonderful and being sure that they will be baptized, and it turns out that we only meet with them once, and after that they fall off the face of the earth. 

First of all, he reminded me that faith is not based on past, present, or future statistics, faith in based on Jesus Christ. President Schwab then reminded me that the results to our faith can be affected by 3 things. First, insufficient faith. Second, the Lord's timing. And third, agency of others. Three thirds of our brothers and sisters chose Satan's plan, but that doesn't mean that God didn't have sufficient faith, it means that he respects our agency. That knowledge really brought me comfort. 

Usually I don't include passages from conference talks.... and usually whenever other people include such passages I skip over them (oops) but our mission president has asked us to read this talk and doing so helped me to better understand what exercising faith looks like and how the Savior acts as a light in my own life. It is called "Choosing to Believe" by Whitney L. Clayton. 

"Every day each of us faces a test. It is the test of our lifetimes: will we choose to believe in Him and allow the light of His gospel to grow within us, or will we refuse to believe and insist on traveling alone in the dark? Belief and testimony and faith are not passive principles. They do not just happen to us. Belief is something we choose—we hope for it, we work for it, and we sacrifice for it. We will not accidentally come to believe in the Savior and His gospel any more than we will accidentally pray or pay tithing. We actively choose to believe, just like we choose to keep other commandments."

Something else that I reeeeally really loved was from general conference one year ago from "Claim the Blessings of your Covenants" by Linda. S. Reeves. 

"Almost three years ago a devastating fire gutted the interior of the beloved, historic tabernacle in Provo, Utah. Its loss was deemed a great tragedy by both the community and Church members. Many wondered, “Why did the Lord let this happen? Surely He could have prevented the fire or stopped its destruction. 

Ten months later, during the October 2011 general conference, there was an audible gasp when President Thomas S. Monson announced that the nearly destroyed tabernacle was to become a holy temple—a house of the Lord! Suddenly we could see what the Lord had always known! He didn’t cause the fire, but He allowed the fire to strip away the interior. He saw the tabernacle as a magnificent temple—a permanent home for making sacred, eternal covenants. 

My dear sisters, the Lord allows us to be tried and tested, sometimes to our maximum capacity. We have seen the lives of loved ones—and maybe our own—figuratively burned to the ground and have wondered why a loving and caring Heavenly Father would allow such things to happen. But He does not leave us in the ashes; He stands with open arms, eagerly inviting us to come to Him. He is building our lives into magnificent temples where His Spirit can dwell eternally. 

In Doctrine and Covenants 58:3–4, the Lord tells us: 

'Ye cannot behold with your natural eyes, for the present time, the design of your God concerning those things which shall come hereafter, and the glory which shall follow after much tribulation. 

For after much tribulation come the blessings. Wherefore the day cometh that ye shall be crowned with much glory.' 

The Lord has a plan for each of our lives. Nothing that happens is a shock or a surprise to Him. He is all-knowing and all-loving. He is eager to help us, to comfort us, and to ease our pain as we rely on the power of the Atonement and honor our covenants. The trials and tribulation that we experience may be the very things that guide us to come unto Him and cling to our covenants so that we might return to His presence and receive all that the Father hath."

I really don't understand God's plan. Almost 100% of the time I don't understand why things are going "wrong" until after the trial is over and I see that actually everything was going right, because it was exactly what God wanted for me. I am so grateful for hard times. I am grateful for this hard mission. Just like the pioneers, who experienced starvation, disease, and death... I wouldn't trade my hard times for good times, because during those times are the times that I come to know my Loving Heavenly Father. 

Love, 

Sister Wilson